Stamford registrars accept new certification guidelines

Published 1:34 am, Monday, September 21, 2015

HARTFORD — Registrars statewide have two years to earn new certifications, a legal requirement that just kicked in and will cost cities and towns $1,600 per registrar.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and officials from the University of Connecticut, State Elections Enforcement Commission and the Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut announced the new requirements on Sept. 9. Registrars, who run the nuts and bolts of voter registration and local polling, must take classes on election law, and must finish their studies by Sept. 14, 2017. Cities and towns pay the fees for their registrars.

The response has been mixed.

“I know my job, I know the laws,” said Republican Registrar Lucy Corelli, though she conceded, “if this is what it requires, this is what I’ll do.”

“I think that this is a very good thing to have certifications for registrars of voters,” said Malloy. “ROVAC has been in favor of having certifications for registrars … so has the SEEC.”

Citing ballot shortages in 2010 and voter delays in 2014, Merrill has long touted reform for city and town registrars.

Here in Stamford, election officials reported two slightly different polling numbers for unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial and vice-gubernatorial candidates Tom Foley and Heather Somers. The registrars said the oversight was the result of human error in a cumbersome tallying protocol.

Both Corelli and Malloy will begin their studies on Sept. 23. Each has re-upped their training of their own volition, even before the new requirements.

“It’s always good that you get a refresher course,” said Corelli. “Now this is a requirement, and we need to do it.”

Malloy indicated that the minutiae of election law made standardized certifications a good idea.

“The law is actually very complex, and there are a lot of ‘ifs,’ ‘buts’ and ‘under certain circumstances,’ ” said Malloy. “In the certification program, it will go through all of the seeming exceptions to laws, and help professionalize what we do.”

Each city and town has one registrar per political party. Absent a primary challenge, it is rare for any nominee for registrar to face any obstacles to election. The system has drawn criticism for perpetuating political patronage.

In March, Merrill called for an end to binary elected registrars in favor of a system of one appointed registrar per city or town. Opponents of the plan argued that since any registrar would invariably have loyalty to one party or another, a single-registrar administration would offer less accountability.

In July, Merrill embraced the legislation that established the new requirements, which also require yearly training and establishes new avenues to oust negligent registrars.